Closed RP: Stephen and Sarah - The Surprise

[nopower_overme]

((This starts Friday morning. Good clean fun with appliances abounds!))

Comments

[estebanmd]

Stephen, whose experience of cabs heretofore had been the sort drawn by horses, had spent much of the trip with attention divided between the various sights Sarah pointed out and the machine itself. He knew it would sound extremely strange if he were to question the cabbie about it, and reminded himself to ask the Headmistress where the Muggle Studies professor had gotten to. There were many things in the modern world that Hogwarts and the wizarding environs had still insulated Stephen from ever encountering

[nopower_overme]

"What?" Sarah asked automatically, blinking at him in momentary confusion. "What is..." She trailed off, eyes rounding out in surprise. She looked out the window at the cottage, back at Stephen, out the window again and then looked back at him for a split second more before her face broke out in a wide, elated smile. She made a sound of wordless utter happiness and promptly latched on to him with a loving and completely emphatic hug. The was no restraint in the motions, only carefree emotion as here there was no one to know them and judge. At this point, there were few words she could form to express just how completely and utterly wonderful this surprise was, but she found herself trying anyway. "This is amazing, just amazing. I... you..." Rather than finish, she hugged him tighter, that wide smile only growing.

[estebanmd]

Smiling, Stephen returned the hug briefly before drawing back. "We are to consider the driver, are we not?" He handed forward some unseen folded bills to the driver; the fee had been arranged in advance, the money changed at Gringotts into usable Muggle currency, and the driver was professional enough not to register any extraordinary emotion at the extent to which what he was given exceeded the pre-arranged amount. He would have gotten out to open the lady's door, but Stephen had already done so. It might have been surprising that the 19th-century doctor could manage the door's lock and opening mechanism. Secretly, surreptitiously, he had been studying it for the past half-hour for just this event.

He helped Sarah out of the car and waved the cab away. "We can call another when we want to go anywhere, or so I am told. There is a thing called a telephone, do you know it?" He was digging in his jacket pocket for the keys to the cottage. Thankfully, he had not managed to leave them in the cab.

[nopower_overme]

At this point, Sarah would not have been able to stop grinning even if it was vitally necessary. It was an incredible surprise, which was why she all but bounced out of the cab - it was amazing what such rushes of happiness after recent stresses could do to someone. It was not at all surprising to her that Stephen had manged the cab door so well, as she knew he was incredibly intelligent and observant, as well as possibly the most amazing person she had ever known. She was no less thankful now for the good things he brought to her life than she had been when this all started

[nopower_overme]

"That will involve the food actually being eaten," Sarah said lightly over her shoulder before she moved into the kitchen. She stopped, looked around and then let out a gleeful but controlled sound at the sight of familiar, modern appliances. "Oh, there's a dishwasher... and a microwave... and a toaster!" At that, she began to laugh and wandered over to it, even more amused to see an excessively well-stocked bread bin with all kinds of bread. Her hand lingered on the jar of raspberry jam in a basket of jams, a soft look on her face as she looked back at Stephen before moving to the refrigerator to inspect what she would be able to cook with. She opened it with interest, blinking in surprise at the amount of food in here for two people for one weekend.

"Oh yes, soda," she said gleefully, nearly pulling it out right now to have some. Resisting, she continued her inspection, her eyes growing wider. "Dear God, there's caviar, lobster, shrimp and truffles in here," she exclaimed, looking back from the refrigerator at him in clear surprise

[estebanmd]

In point of fact, Hogwarts staff were hardly paid exorbitantly. Stephen had never revealed the extent of his personal fortune to Sarah, or even its existence. (Gringotts having existed for rather a long time, inflation had not been an issue at all; funds were transferred as needed in the 19th century by those who had power of attorney for Stephen, and appreciated in the intervening time.) Nor was he accustomed to living according to his means in general. It seemed the agent had taken the amount of money made available to her for preparations to be somehow indicative of her client's tastes, and acted accordingly. He had mentioned that he had an American companion, and asked that whatever Americans (modern Americans, but he refrained from using the adjective) would find to be pleasing or comforting viands should be sent as well. Apparently 'junk food' was that, from what he saw now

[nopower_overme]

"Exactly," Sarah said with a smile, returning to the counter with the toaster as the microwave was over it. It was going to be fun explaining all these things to him, a fun she knew she would never tire of having. She launched into an explanation about microwave ovens, as well as an explanation - to the best of her ability - on microwave radiation itself. As she did, she popped two slices of bread into a toaster and went to the refrigerator, happily finding American cheese in there. She took a plate from the cupboard after locating them and then put the cheese between the two now-toasted slices of bread and stuck it in the microwave

[estebanmd]

Stephen looked extremely skeptical. "That cheese does not appear ever to have been natural. Are you quite sure it is safe?"

[nopower_overme]

Sarah made a sound of glee and grabbed his hand. "Let's go see," she said, pulling him back out to the sitting room and over to where the television sat. "That is a TV - television. It receives moving pictures and sound over a distance - both images happening right now and images that were recorded in the time before they were on the TV. People watch it for entertainment, instead of going to... say, a play or a concert." She hovered her finger over the button on the front. "That button turns it off and on, this," she pointed again, "changes the volume and this," she put her finger on it, "changes the channel. Each channel usually shows something different, so at any time you could watch the news, a television show, a movie, a sporting event... you can find all kinds of programs to watch

[estebanmd]

Stephen stood and watched the flickering pictures. It was very, very strange and he did not know what to make of it. When Sarah handed him the remote control, his hand accepted it automatically, but his fingers closed around it as though it were any other object, and he did nothing with it.

"That picture is not sentient -- not like the portraits at Hogwarts that move and speak -- it is an image of something that already happened or is happening, like a memory." He tried to articulate his understanding of what she described.

As far as changing the future, he thought that if that had been a great concern, the Admiralty would not very well have sent him here. But then, he was known for his remarkable discretion; if anyone could be trusted not to spread tales of the 21st century in the 19th, it would be Maturin.

"I was told that people come here to visit the aquarium and the sea and to see local things, not to watch pictures of people in other places," he said.

[nopower_overme]

Like a memory. At those words, Sarah was suddenly disconcerted, though she quickly shrugged it off. Now was not the time to be thinking about all of that. She could tell from his face that the television was not the same success light switches had been, so clearly it was time to move on from this particular sight.

"No, most people usually go on vacation - on holiday - to see the sights, not watch TV when they can do that at home," she said, taking the remote control back from him so she could turn the television off. "People might still want to keep up with what is going on in the world with the news and sometimes they use TV to relax as well after a day out." She set the remote aside and moved to him, once more sliding her arms around him. "But I don't really want to watch TV, not here. So what exactly did you have planned for us for today?"

[estebanmd]

Distracted by thoughts of television, he shrugged. "I thought we might need the day to settle in, walk about the area, find out what there is to be seen. There should be maps --" He remembered -- "near The Telephone." He paused. "What does The Telephone look like?"

[estebanmd]

They spent an uneventful afternoon walking along the cliffs and then down to the shore. Stephen noted birds, and talked aimlessly and freely of seas he had known, the condition of the weather (he had always fancied himself to have absorbed rather more knowledge about matters nautical than was in reality at his command), and such. They held hands. To all external appearances, they would have seemed a completely ordinary couple, and happy.

The day had worn on into early evening when they made their way back to the cottage.

[nopower_overme]

Sarah had taken it all in, from the sight of the ocean in the places they had walked to the sound of his voice as he talked to the simple pleasure of walking hand-in-hand with him. She was interested in everything he had to say, often asking questions. She felt content and at peace after the afternoon spent out, and the return to the cottage was even more pleasurable because of it. Hair now windblown, she held it out as she unlocked the door, catching the distinctive smell of the ocean in its strands that normally were scented like her shampoo and perfume. Her legs still felt sticky from the roll of the tide and she needed a shower. She opened her mouth to say as much as she walked into the sitting room and then stopped

[estebanmd]

In fact it would not have been at all unlike Stephen to have overlooked this. However, he had not overlooked it. For himself, it was easy enough to have things sent ahead, but he could not very well abscond with Sarah's belongings without her noticing and realising something was up. So he had simply asked Aloysius II to figure out from what clothes she kept in Stephen's rooms what sort of thing she would want to wear, and have suitable equivalents ordered and sent to the cottage. Stephen had some notion of readymade clothing now, owning some himself, and knew that the elf could check the labels for the necessary information. Aloysius II was, on the whole, a much more reliable and helpful elf than his predecessor.

"We do have them, and also we have a washing machine, whatever in God's name that might be, so if you do not like what Aloysius sent, we could essay to use the machine on what you wear now, I suppose?" he said, tentative. He hoped the washing machine would not be as appalling as the television.

[nopower_overme]

"I like all my clothes, so I can't imagine I wouldn't like what he sent along," Sarah said and then smiled at him. "And a washing machine just washes the clothes inside it, like the dishwasher does with the dishes." Kissing his cheek, she went off to look in the bedrooms, pleased when she found multiple suitcases in the room with the largest bed. Opening once, she set it aside when she recognized his clothing and opened another, finding her clothing. At least, what looked to be hers from the first sight of button-front shirts, skirts, jean shorts and the like, but which she soon realized weren't her clothing from styles she knew she did not own.

"Stephen, I think Aloysius sent some else's clothing, these look like things I'd wear, but they aren't mine," she called, and then puzzled further at the fact some still had garment tags on them. In fact, they all felt rather new to the touch. Digging further in the neatly packed clothing, she pulled out a shirt, this one hard to miss, and discovered several more as she dug further. At the

[nopower_overme]

He was trying to watch a book on the history of golf? At that, Sarah had to smother a laugh. "If you really want to watch the history of golf, I'm sure there is a video store somewhere close," she said helpfully, but really hoped he would not take her up on the offer. "Or we could actually go golfing, though I've never done it." She tugged at his sleeve. "But for now, are you hungry yet? I'm going to go cook something for us, why don't you come with me so I don't try to feed you any more offending food?" She did want him with her, but it would be a lie if she was not also asking to keep him from further electronic disasters. Letting go of his sleeve, she went back to work on her hair while she waited.

[estebanmd]

Stephen was a little hurt by her amusement at his misunderstanding about the video recorder thing, but would not say so. "I think I should go use the shower as well." She would get no exciting stories about salt-encrusted laundry now, either!

[nopower_overme]

Sarah, blissfully unaware of the exciting stories she was now being denied, smiled and kissed him. "Enjoy," she said, momentarily wondering if there was anything in the bathroom that would be a danger. Deciding not - she hoped - she moved off to the kitchen, laying the towel over the back of the chair before she went to find a cookbook or at least determine what she would be cooking from memory.

[estebanmd]

The plumbing fixtures were not all that different from the ones at Hogwarts. Stephen was able to figure them out without breaking anything. As he showered off the salt smell of ocean (in so doing, failing to note the agent's particular care in selecting soap, shampoo, etc.), he thought about books and video recorders. He decided that books were sufficient on their own and that if he wanted to see them enacted he would rather see real actors doing so in a theatre.